Letter from the President

Hello Fellow Curlers,

I am very pleased to tell you that Sunday curling with the Green Mountain Curling Club begins this week, with draws at 9:30 and 12:30 at the Bedford Curling Club!

The Board would like to pass along our sincere thanks to the 29 of you who completed the member survey. Based on your feedback, we are offering two membership options and three ways to pay for your Sunday curling this season:

Limited Membership in the Green Mountain Curling Club will continue to be $35 for the full year. This allows you to curl with the club on Sundays and to be part of our non-curling gatherings.

Full Membership that includes GMCC dues as well as membership in the Grand National Curling Club (the association of clubs on the Eastern seaboard) and the United States Curling Association will again cost $85 for the year. If you wish to curl competitively this year (for instance, GNCC club playdowns or GNCC mixed championships) you will need to be a member of the GNCC and USCA. This membership level also puts you on the mailing list for the USCA newsletter and supports curling across the United States.

In terms of Sunday curling, either of the membership options above entitles you to play curling with the GMCC on Sundays for the price of $15 per game (same as last season).

As an alternative, we have punch cards available that will entitle you to eight games for the price of seven ($105 per 8-game punch card).

Finally, for a total of $320, an "all-in" membership covers dues for the GMCC, GNCC and USCA and unlimited curling on Sundays!

Also, once again based on your feedback, we will be making the ice available at lunchtime for unstructured practice. The ice will be available for around 40-45 minutes between draws. There will be a fee of $5 for the use of the ice during this time, but the fee will be waived for anyone joining us for both the 9:30 and 12:30 draws.

Many of you expressed interest in a league on Sundays, so we will be tracking standings throughout the year as well. Teams will continue to be assigned randomly, but we will ask for a little additional information this year when you let us know that you intend to curl with us on Sundays. (See below for just such an inquiry!)

We will also be exploring other options for the season, including an ongoing series of friendlies, possible formal instruction once a month with certified coaches from the Bedford club, and an experimental Saturday afternoon draw. Stay tuned for more information about these developments.

In the meantime, please respond to this message if you would like to curl this Sunday, October 18. Please indicate all of the following:

Would you like to play the 9:30 draw, the 12:30 draw, or both?

Are you interested in the lunchtime practice ice?

Would you prefer to play front end (lead or second) or back end (vice skip or skip)?

Is you first choice curling (4 on 4 or 3 on 3, depending on attendance) or sturling (2 on 2, with somewhat different rules)?

If you plan to join us this weekend, please remember to allow sufficient time for the border crossing. If anyone needs a refresher on the location of the club, please let me know in your response so I can provide directions. And if you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Finally, several respondents to the survey noted that it sure would be great if we had ice closer to home. The Board has been exploring the idea of building our own curling facility in Vermont. We will need your help to do so. Please look for two more brief surveys within the next week or two, as we assess the exciting possibility of bringing a dedicated facility to Vermont. We thank you in advance for your participation, and we hope to see you on Sunday!